Drug Discovery News and Research

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The drug discovery process begins with recognizing a disease or clinical condition in which there is a lack of adequate medical treatment. Once a potential drug has been identified, pre-clinical research can begin. This process includes several stages; the first of which involves identifying and validating the prospective drug’s target through assay development, high throughput screening, hit identification and finally, lead optimization. Once the pre-clinical process is complete, the newly synthesized drug candidate is selected for future clinical development.

Five young scientists receive Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award for cancer research

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that five scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2011 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. The grant of $450,000 over three years is awarded each year to early career scientists whose projects have the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

2 Feb 2011

Aphios enters subcontract with SAIC-Frederick to develop phospholipid nanoencapsulated camptothecin

Aphios® Corporation today announced that it has entered into a subcontract with SAIC-Frederick, a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation, to develop phospholipid nanoencapsulated camptothecin, Camposomes™, for the treatment of pancreatic and other cancers, supporting the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology.

2 Feb 2011

First blood-based diagnostic test for LAM

Circadian Technologies has announced today that in conjunction with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center it has begun offering its LAM diagnostic, which is offered as a laboratory test compliant with CAP (College of American Pathologists) /CLIA regulations.

2 Feb 2011

FDA, Optivia collaborate to examine effect of dietary supplements in drug-induced liver injury

Optivia Biotechnology, a leading provider of in vitro transporter assay services, today announced that the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have signed a collaboration agreement to assess the effect of dietary supplements on key drug transporters.

1 Feb 2011

Venture philanthropist invests $3.5 million to thwart Alzheimer's disease

Retired San Francisco real estate developer Douglas Rosenberg says he has a new job - helping to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Through the Ellen and Douglas Rosenberg Foundation, the venture philanthropist is betting at least $3.5 million that Buck faculty Dale Bredesen, MD has the correct take on how to thwart the memory robbing disease that affects over 5 million Americans.

31 Jan 2011

ALS Biopharma receives ADDF grant to develop therapeutics against Alzheimer's disease

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation announced today that it has awarded a grant of $195,000 to ALS Biopharma, LLC to develop therapeutics targeted at clearing toxic proteins implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jan 2011

H3 Biomedicine introduces cancer research and development operations in Cambridge

H3 Biomedicine today announced that it has launched research and development operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts. H3 Biomedicine will undertake a comprehensive approach to breakthrough oncology treatments based on two primary principles: 1) the genetics of patients' cancers can reveal drug targets tailored to their cancers and 2) the advances in modern chemistry enable the discovery of new classes of safe and effective drugs against these targets.

27 Jan 2011

St. Michael's Hospital to build first automated high-throughput zebrafish screening facility in Canada

Zebrafish are the new fruit flies.

27 Jan 2011

Merck Canada invests in CQDM to support biopharmaceutical research

Merck Canada has renewed its partnership with the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery by investing a further $5 million over five years in the organization so it can continue its support of biopharmaceutical research in Quebec.

27 Jan 2011

p38-targeted compounds hold promise for Alzheimer's disease treatment

Linda J. Van Eldik, director of the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, has been awarded a $750,000 grant to further her research into a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The grant is from the Edward N. And Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation, and was one of only eight Awards in Alzheimer's Disease Drug Discovery Research to be given in the U.S. in 2010.

25 Jan 2011

New investigative tool may explore intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity

Nongjian Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have pioneered a new technique capable of peering into single cells and even intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity.

25 Jan 2011

Cancer Research UK launches new Centre in Glasgow

Cancer Research UK today (Thursday) launches a new Centre which will accelerate the pace of research in Glasgow and see the city become a world leader in the development of new treatments tailored for individual cancer patients.

21 Jan 2011

Cognition Therapeutics closes $2.5 million Series A1 financing

Cognition Therapeutics Inc., a drug discovery company developing novel, small molecule disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's, has closed on a $2.5 million Series A1 financing it will use to bring one or more of its compounds to Investigational New Drug (IND) candidate status. The round was led by Golden Seeds, one of the nation's largest angel investing groups, and was syndicated with Tech Coast Angels.

20 Jan 2011

Takeda Cambridge, Evotec enter collaboration to identify novel modulators against GPCR

Evotec AG today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Takeda Cambridge Limited, to identify small molecule modulators against GPCR and Protease targets involved in various CNS and Metabolic diseases.

20 Jan 2011

4SC initiates dosing in resminostat Phase I/II SHORE study for KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer

4SC AG, a drug discovery and development company, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase I/II SHORE study with the oral pan-histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor resminostat as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced and metastatic colorectal KRAS-mutant cancer.

20 Jan 2011

Positive top-line results from TC-5619 Phase 2 trial in patients with schizophrenia

Targacept, Inc. today announced positive top-line results from a Phase 2 clinical proof of concept trial to assess TC-5619 as an augmentation therapy to improve cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

20 Jan 2011

Researchers create biyouyanagin compound library

Using chemical compounds found in a Japanese plant as a lead and the clever application of ultraviolet light, a Scripps Research Institute team has created a unique library of dozens of synthetic compounds to test for biomedical potential. Already, one of the compounds has shown great promise in inhibiting replication of HIV particles and fighting inflammation.

19 Jan 2011

Cancer cells brought back under normal control

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have brought cancer cells back under normal control — by reactivating their cancer suppressor genes. The discovery could form a powerful new technology platform for the treatment of cancer of the breast and other cancers.

19 Jan 2011

OMJPI, Sanford-Burnham enter agreement to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has entered into a collaboration with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease and major psychiatric disorders.

18 Jan 2011

Cancer Research UK and CRT select 4 research groups to unravel role of cancer stem cells

Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT), have established a team of scientists with expertise in cancer stem cell research to identify new targets to detect, monitor and treat cancer.

14 Jan 2011

Drug Discovery News and Research

Further Reading

Five young scientists receive Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award for cancer research

Aphios enters subcontract with SAIC-Frederick to develop phospholipid nanoencapsulated camptothecin

First blood-based diagnostic test for LAM

FDA, Optivia collaborate to examine effect of dietary supplements in drug-induced liver injury

Venture philanthropist invests $3.5 million to thwart Alzheimer's disease

ALS Biopharma receives ADDF grant to develop therapeutics against Alzheimer's disease

H3 Biomedicine introduces cancer research and development operations in Cambridge

St. Michael's Hospital to build first automated high-throughput zebrafish screening facility in Canada

Merck Canada invests in CQDM to support biopharmaceutical research

p38-targeted compounds hold promise for Alzheimer's disease treatment

New investigative tool may explore intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity

Cancer Research UK launches new Centre in Glasgow

Cognition Therapeutics closes $2.5 million Series A1 financing

Takeda Cambridge, Evotec enter collaboration to identify novel modulators against GPCR

4SC initiates dosing in resminostat Phase I/II SHORE study for KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer

Positive top-line results from TC-5619 Phase 2 trial in patients with schizophrenia

Researchers create biyouyanagin compound library

Cancer cells brought back under normal control

OMJPI, Sanford-Burnham enter agreement to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders

Cancer Research UK and CRT select 4 research groups to unravel role of cancer stem cells

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